Little Lamb Books: Company Spotlight

Writing Books for Kids from a Faith Perspective
A guest post by Rachel Pellegrino

As a faith-based children’s publisher, I can tell you without hesitation that there is a hole in the market for faith-based fiction for young readers. There are numerous devotionals, journals, coloring books, and other non-fiction titles to choose from, but what families are looking for are entertaining books to rival what kids are learning about from friends, finding at school book fairs, or picking up in local bookstores.

In fact, walk into any major bookstore, and you will find shelves of interesting books for kids that tell stories of dystopian worlds, royal contests, and magical mutants. There are wonderful board books about the alphabet and counting and picture books and early readers that are seasonal or solve mysteries or teach new recipes. And, all these books are well-written and encourage the reading habits of children.

But, for families longing for more stories founded on biblical principles, it can be challenging to find even one shelf in a local bookstore where they can find wholesome, clean, and faith-oriented books that they don’t have to scan first, especially as children become tweens and teens.

The count is even less for those books that tell children it’s okay to lean on Christ, okay to love the Lord who made them, and okay to pray when they are afraid, lonely, or worried…far less that offer biblical references for encouragement, strength, joy, and love.

Why is this?

I don’t have all the answers. But, I do know that this is why I launched Little Lamb Books. As a premiere publishing company, our mission is to shepherd the next generation of faithful readers by striving to produce three to five fiction titles a year for elementary, middle grade, and young adult readers. We want to put picture books, chapter books, and young adult novels that weave engaging plots with interesting characters in the hands of kids and encourage conversations about an almighty God that loves them and made them unique.

There is a hunger for stories that affirm a biblical worldview and celebrate God’s presence in our world as well as for stories that answer the need for colorful, entertaining, and yes, even humorous examples of characters overcoming obstacles, engaging in positive family relationships, and shining a light in a dark world, especially now, when nothing feels “normal” around us.

We need more writers wanting to grow in their God-given talent and build on their calling to write by creating wonderful fiction that enriches the imagination for the readers and inspires their love for reading while incorporating scripture, values, and salvation.

Our children read books to be entertained, to see themselves in the characters, to travel to new places, and to laugh and not feel alone. We need to give them those kinds of stories while encouraging discussions about challenging situations and believing in a God they cannot see or cannot touch.

As writers, we need to write stories for the elementary readers forming their own opinions and viewpoints with grace and dignity, integrity and kindness.

We need to write stories for middle grade girls and guys learning to stand up for themselves among their peers and how to value truth amidst the onslaught of virtual messages that distort the truth on a daily basis.

We need to create stories for high schoolers longing to be seen and heard, those young adults who value new worlds where love is real, friendships are valued, and diversity is accepted.

We need more faith-based fiction for elementary, middle grade, and young adult readers, and I know that at Little Lamb Books we are doing everything we can to make those books a reality. If you’d like to help us by contributing to our Kickstarter campaign, please visit here.

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Author Bio:

Rachel Pellegrino is the owner and publisher of Little Lamb Books, an award-winning publisher of children’s books. 

Launched in 2015, Little Lamb Books has produced almost a dozen titles, all of which have won national awards, including two golds in the Benjamin Franklin Awards.

Rachel is passionate about collaborating with fellow publishers as well as empowering authors to be successful. Based in Texas, Rachel talks with her hands, offers individual author coaching, prefers Pepsi to coffee, and has a growing plush lamb collection much to her daughter’s delight.

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Connect with Rachel:
Website: https://www.rachelpellegrino.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RaePelleTX/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raepelletx/

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Follow Little Lamb Books:
Website: https://littlelambbooks.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/littlelambbooks/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/little_lamb_books/

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Support Little Lamb Books:

Kickstarter Campaign:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/littlelambbooks/little-lamb-books-publisher-of-childrens-books

True Love Stories: It Began with A Song

Fireworks happened on the 4th of July. No, not the kind you see light up the sky in brilliant streaks of red, white and blue. It was the kind that lit a deep love in the hearts of CJ and Deedré. It is a love that led to marriage and a lifetime of happiness between this couple not only committed to each other, but to God and His people. 

Today's featured true love story is a real gem. I hope you will not only enjoy it but be encouraged by the journey God took CJ and Deedré on together. It's a beautiful story. I believe you're going to love it. 

But don't take my word for it, see for yourself...

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It Began with A Song

CJ and Deedré's true love story

Our story begins in Plantation, Florida—a suburb west of Fort Lauderdale—on a Friday night, during praise and worship rehearsal at my local church. 

As the rehearsal was getting ready to start, in walks a new face with one of the members of the praise team. Her name was Deedré and I was immediately captivated by her eyes but tried to stay focused on the rehearsal. She was later invited to join us in a song. After hearing her beautiful voice, I was convinced she needed to be a part of our praise team. Little did I know that she was also trying to recruit me for a singing group with a mutual friend. The next day we exchanged phone numbers, both intending to recruit the other. When I finally called her a week later, we spent hours on the phone laughing like two old friends. It felt like we had known each other for years. This was the start of a friendship that was originally brought together by music. It was at a time when neither of us were looking for a relationship, yet simply enjoyed being in each other’s presence. 

A few weeks later, I invited her to a potluck at the home of family friends. Somehow, everyone left the two of us together and ate in another room. We talked, laughed, played Truth or Dare and by the end of the evening we shared our first kiss. It was 4th of July! 

About a month later, after another potluck, I walked into the living room where Deedré was with a sticky note and a pen stuck to my back. The sticky note said, “Will you be my boo? Yes, no or maybe?” When I walked in, she didn’t see it at first. So I pretended to have an itch on my back and asked if she could scratch it for me. Then I turned around so she could see the paper. She began to laugh and then checked “yes” while hugging me. This was now two months after we met and we were now officially boyfriend and girlfriend.

Not long after we started dating, Deedré got the chicken pox. My family and I took her in and took care of her until she recovered. Whenever we tell this story, Deedré shares that this time meant a lot to her because it showed her that I would be there for her no matter what. This was evident when I had the privilege of meeting Deedré’s mother, Dulcie, who’d been battling cancer. She passed away a year later. One of the last things she said to me was “Take care of my daughter”. It was as if she knew what was coming and wanted me to be there to pick up the shattered pieces of Deedré’s heart. It was later confirmed by God when I asked Him what I should do for Deedré during this time of grief. He stopped me and told me, in a clear voice, “Show her my love!” From that day, I vowed to do just that.

Deedré always told me that if I ever proposed to her, it should be as private as possible. So I decided to make it as public as possible! Our church planned a trip to the Holy Land Experience in Orlando, Florida. At the end of the day, I caught Deedré totally by surprise by having her arrested and brought to the Temple mount by very convincing actors who played Roman Guards. With the entire park as my witness, I proposed to her. About 9 months later we had a beautiful wedding filled with friends and loved ones at our local church. 

Our journey has not been easy. We’ve been through things that would’ve broken more seasoned couples, yet through it all, we are there for each other and God was and is the supernatural glue that keeps up together. We’ve been married for over 8 years and are more in love now than we have ever been before. We challenge, yet complement each other and I thank God every day for giving me such a beautiful gift.

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Author bio: "CJ" Claypole S. Cousins Jr. is simply a man who is in love with Jesus. His passion is to live, preach and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

CJ serves as Associate Pastor for Restoration Praise Center in Lanham, Md. He serves in the areas of evangelism, discipleship and multimedia. He also served as intern pastor at One Place and graduate assistant for grow groups at Pioneer Memorial Church on the campus of Andrews University. 

CJ holds a Bachelor's of Business Administration, majoring in Human Resource Management from Florida International University in Miama, Fla. He also has a Master's of Human Resource Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University. He has completed his Master of Divinity with an emphasis in church growth and evangelism at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University.

CJ is married to the lovely Deedré Nicole Cousins who is a wonderful support and partner in ministry. 

He is passionate about sharing God's love as seen through the gospel of Jesus Christ in the context of Revelation 14:6-12. In addition to preaching and teaching, CJ also loves to sing and write about Jesus.

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Mrs. Deedré Cousins' professional bio: Deedré's affinity for multimedia and technology was evident at a very young age. Throughout her childhood, Deedré developed a keen ear for music and a sharp eye for visual art which led to the completion of three degrees—an associate of arts in music, a bachelors in music technology and a masters of art in multimedia communications. 

Her academic and professional achievements have made her passionate about creating innovative and contextual media on multiple platforms. Whether it's producing a news segment for prime time television or creating a human interest web series, recording music projects, capturing still photography, or giving seminars and consultations on social media marketing strategies, Deedré can conceive, create, publish and promote your next big idea.

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Bonus feature: CJ & Deedré's Love Story video on YouTube